Heronsew
/ˈhɛr.ən.suː/noun
An obsolete English name for a heron.
Did you know?Heronsew is an obsolete variant related to forms such as heronshaw and heronsewe, showing how bird names were repeatedly remodeled as they passed through medieval dialects.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*haigrô
“A heron or similar long-legged wading bird; the reconstructed ancestor of several Germanic bird-names.”
Old French
Old French
hairon
“Heron; a borrowing from a Germanic bird-name.”
Middle English
Middle English
heron
“Heron, the wading bird.”
Middle English
Middle English
heronsewe / heronshaw
“Obsolete variant forms meaning heron, probably remodeled from heron with an added ending.”
Modern English
English
heronsew
“An obsolete literary or dialectal name for a heron.”